Review: Graceling

‚Graceling‘ by Kristin Cashore

Seven Kingdoms Trilogy # 1.

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Synopsis:
Katsa is not a common Graceling, because she has the power to kill. Like the other Gracelings as well, which are marked with two different eye colors, Katsa has a blue and a green eye. Until now Katsa has used her gift for her uncle Randa, the king of Middlunds, where she fight for him or killed others in his duty. But then at a secret release mission she meets for the first time prince Po, who has a gold and a silver eye, which means he’s also a Graceling, and who follows her to the court of her uncle. Po has also a gift for fighting and so it comes that Katsa and Po start to fight a battle and out of this they start a workout and become friends. Besides Katsa confess that, on the night they met, she was releasing his grandfather Tealiff. From now on Katsa refuses to use her deadly power for her unloved uncle king Randa, and decides to go with Po to help him find the truth behind the kidnapping of his grandfather. On their journey to the unknown they discover more than they have hoped for, beautiful things but also dreadful ones…

My thoughts about the book:
I really liked that book and there were parts in it I really loved and were amazing. Though it took a short time to get in the story, because it was playing in a totally different world and so Cashore has to describe everything at first, how it look like, how are the country is build and subdivided and how are the humans in the story are living and what is the thing about the ‘Gracelings’. But after that it was a really nice read and the story build fast some tension and got interesting. What I liked in this book was the great building and description of the surroundings and of this new world, and there you’ve always got the feeling that it is playing in medieval times with the horse riding, the talking and the with the writing style of Cashore – that all was greatly build up to one fantastic and epic new book and a great start of a new amazing book series – that will be sure. Katsa was also a great character, who was though and hard and was a real fighter and I liked that because it was totally different to other books, where always the woman is the fragile part, but here Katsa was the fighter, the survivalist and Po was the more sensitive part, but also a good fighter and smart and I love them together, how their relationship build (also after Katsa found out about his real gift). Bitterblue was also a great character and I like Farin and Skye and I really can’t wait for the next books to come. What I don’t like so much in this book was that Katsa couldn’t quite show her feelings for Po, or to say better – that Cashore randomly described how Katsa felt when she was with him and her feelings. I’m a romantic type and I just need it so that’s a thing I really missed. And to go further I also didn’t like that Cashore wrote some parts in the story in the past… For example she wrote: “We were already four weeks on the boot and in this time they did…. “And then she told what they did there. Or Cashore wrote that Po and Katsa travelled some weeks threw the forest and in this time this… and this… and this happened – but always from the view back…. Hope you understand what I mean, it’s not so easy to describe (especially in English). So I didn’t like that fact and for me I got the feeling that this build some distance between the reader and the storyline, the feelings and to the characters… But I’m a sensitive person and I want to feel everything in a book and enjoy it totally and not with a barrier in between the book and the reader.
But I really see high potential in the book and for me it’s a great start with nice and likeable characters and I’m sure the second will be even better. The storyline was great and the world is beautiful and amazing.

English Cover:
I love the Cover because it looks like a book of a medieval world, ancient and very precious.

All in all:
A great book for all epic fantasy lovers and also for people who love strong woman you can stand alone on her own feet.

Rating:
4 of 5 points

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Special:

The book was also published with a different Cover.
Don’t ask me why they did this second edition, but I have to say I really like this one. It also looks great and it’s very special. I love the mystic surrounding and the though woman in the middle of it *great*